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Dining review - Much of menu falls flat at Courts and Sports

By Jason Frye

Published: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 8:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 8:15 a.m.

There's something I love about a sports bar. Maybe it comes from spending four years worth of football and wings in sports bars with my friends during college. Maybe it's my love of the UFC or really good chicken wings.

Whatever it is, Courts and Sports Bar and Grill delivers on part of the promise a good sports bar offers, then pushes beyond your run-of-the-mill sports bar into interesting territory: recreation.

Courts and Sports boasts 25 televisions to air the usual big games/matches/fights, but they augment this with eight sand volleyball courts (where they play volleyball, dodge ball, sand soccer and more), eight cornhole sets and two bocce ball courts. It's not the first business in the area to combine volleyball and a sports bar, but it's certainly working hard to establish a niche: college students. Located right beside a student-filled apartment complex, Courts and Sports offers cheap drink specials, daily food specials, poker nights and a free shuttle to downtown Thursday through Saturday nights.

In short, it's the dream sports bar for my college-age self.

Which brings me to the food.

One of the things I love about a sports bar is the simple food: burgers that walk the line between delicious and greasy, Philly cheesesteaks, wings, an assortment of fried things (cheese, pickles, shrimp, jalapeno poppers). Courts and Sports offers each of these dishes and more but serves the ball into the net when it comes to execution.

A friend and I stopped in for food and to watch some volleyball. We started with nachos and fried calamari, and we both thought the calamari was the best of the starters. Instead of the rubbery rings of squid we expected, we got tender pieces drizzled in a sweet chili sauce that was both hot and flavorful. The nachos, honestly, were a little sad – some warm chips with a few scoops of what tasted like canned hot dog chili, a couple globs of cheese and a scattering of diced jalapenos. We didn't finish them.

It was $1.50 taco night, and the tacos were passable: flour tortillas filled with seasoned ground beef, sour cream and shredded lettuce, all for only $1.50 each.

For dinner, our waitress sold me on the chicken Philly cheesesteak. My friend wanted a burger and when he asked which one was the best, we were surprised at her answer.

“Don't order a burger here,” she said. “They're not good.”

We both sat in stunned silence for a minute before asking why. She described the burgers as bland and boring, and proceeded to name several better burgers in town.

We quizzed her. How could the burgers be bland? The menu has 14 different burger toppings, everything from fried eggs to barbecue sauce to peanut butter and grape jelly to ravioli. My friend decided to brave the burger anyway.

We should have listened. Our waitress was spot-on in the “burger is bland” department. It was absolutely lackluster. Devoid of lettuce, tomato or onion, it was a dry puck of meat with some cheese melted on it. Worse than being bland, it was $9.

My chicken Philly cheesesteak was no better. I expected chopped chicken smothered in a super melty cheese, onion and pepper sauce on a hoagie roll. What I got was a hamburger bun topped with peppers and onions, topped with two chicken tenderloins (with the very unappetizing tendon still attached) and a slice of melted white American cheese, topped with the rest of the bun.

What we both should have ordered was wings. Stick to the sports bar basics, I say. I had wings a couple of days later and they were good – crispy, spicy, served with a tart ranch dressing that cut through the heat. Were they the best wings I've had in town? No, but considering that they were served quickly, met expectations and I could get them while watching UFC on a giant TV, the were pretty good.

Again, I'd like to emphasize that Courts and Sports knows its audience – college students and recent graduates – and they play to them. The food is affordable, edible and filling, and the entertainment offerings are varied enough to keep the place busy every night of the week.

Will I be back? Probably not for a stand-alone dinner, but I'd stop in with friends to watch UFC or to play volleyball, or if I just wanted to have a beer and some wings and play cornhole.

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